Taking Time to Heal

"Dig deep. Spread wide." - Katherine Genet, "The Singing"

On March 7, 2022, Margaret Renkle, writer and New York Times opinion columnist, wrote her column titled “What to Do with Spring’s Wild Joy in a Burning World.” It was such an inspiring and life-supporting piece to read that day, like a bear hug from a stranger.

I remembered her words today in the heat of this summer morning, even more poignant and relevant than four plus years ago, and so I share it with you:

“The world is burning, and there is not time to put down the water buckets. For just an hour, put down the water buckets anyway....Take your cue from the bluebirds, who have no faith in the future but who build the future nonetheless, leaf by leaf and straw by straw, shaping them and turning them into a sheltering roundness perfectly fitted to the contours of the future they are making.”

The photo below is of a hummingbird egg on the jasmine vine by the kitchen door. The old nest from last year was vigorously cleaned out by the mother, tail and wings and long curved beak bobbing up and down in her desire to make a new home. Today she flies back and forth from nest to higher branches to trumpet flower vines and back to the nest. She is making a future.